With Friday looming as the filing deadline for offices statewide, a lot of folks are facing tough decisions. While I’ve encouraged various people to run in races for which they are suited, the reality is that every one of us has to decide what’s right for us. And every one of us has factors that should correctly weigh on our decision. Some of those are nobody’s business, and it’s entirely OK to say that.

I agree with the general goal of having candidates in every race possible, especially when I look at races like that of Twinkle Cavanaugh in 2016, whom we allowed to run unopposed for president of the powerful Public Service Commission, which is baffling. (This is why I’ve been obsessed this week seeking candidates for the two positions open on the PSC.)

But it’s an individual and intensely personal decision to be weighed carefully. I’d rather leave a slot open than waste money on a candidate who’s not qualified or serious. I’d rather leave it open than wreck somebody’s life if they’re taking on something for which they’re not suited.

Candidates and those considering a run: Think hard. Consider your qualifications, your family situation, your temperament, your economic stability and your reasons for running. Talk to veterans of past campaigns, your minister, your friends who care enough to be candid with you. And for God’s sake, talk to your family. You’ll be in this together.

If you’re doing it for the money or the recognition, you’re doing it wrong.

If you’re doing it because you’re unemployed, that’s the worst possible reason.

Do it instead because you love your kids, your parents, the underpaid teachers, the women with unplanned pregnancies, the immigrants all around us, and the hourly workers who make your life possible. Do it because you want your kids to have good schools where they learn real science instead of myths. Do it because, when you really look at what matters, you can’t turn away.

And if you look at the things that matter to you and see where you can make our state better, and if you simply can’t turn your back on the needs you can address, then God bless you, you’re a candidate!

On January 30, 2018, voters in St. Clair County had a chance to provide some desperately needed funding for the area’s schools. But the referendum was rejected, 61-39%, in a vote that brought out less than 15% of the registered voters. Only Leeds voted for the kids, passing 3 mills there.

Just a few weeks ago, the county turned out enough Doug Jones votes to have passed the school tax comfortably. But apparently, we care more about maneuverings in D.C. than about the kids with ragged school books right under our own noses.

I’ve been writing for months about the need for Democrats in Alabama to pay attention to state and local races, and to get involved at all levels. I even wrote about “what happens on December 13” (the day after we elected Doug Jones), trying desperately to remind people that changing Alabama isn’t just a one-shot deal.

So what were Democrats doing to help pass a tax to better fund the schools here in my own county? I honestly don’t know. I’m sure there were some people working hard to pass it. But somehow, as politically connected as I am, I didn’t even know about the vote until I saw it mentioned yesterday on the 5 o’clock news. Never saw a sign or got a flyer. Nobody called. I rushed down to vote yes, but I’m embarrassed that I was caught napping.

Especially when the first campaign I managed resulted in a 17-mill tax that funded two high schools, a Middle School, at least one elementary school and more.

Democrats, who care deeply about education, should have been mobilized in a big way to pass the tax in a county that hasn’t passed a school tax since the 1960s.

Well, we’ve been busy, haven’t we? We’ve had more important things to do, like engage in pissing matches over whether white liberal women are still racist. We went about the really important work of dogging our newly elected Senator over his every move and comment. We were busy parsing the words of a Democratic gubernatorial candidate to make sure he’s “pro-choice” enough for everybody’s liking.

Meanwhile, you and I did zippo to help the kids in the county where I live – the county that borders Jefferson County and includes Leeds, Moody, Pell City, Anniston, Ashville, and parts of Trussville and Leeds.

We had better things to do, I guess.

I can hear somebody saying, “there just aren’t enough Democrats in St. Clair to make a difference.” I call bullshit on that. When we were energized by the Senate race, 6,212 of us turned out to vote for Doug Jones. That would have been enough to pass the tax, which would have provided an additional $4.3 million per year for St. Clair County schools, and an additional $2 million for Pell City schools.

But we didn’t get 6,212 votes, did we? No, we got a paltry 3,348. In other words, 2,864 people who cared enough to vote for Doug Jones couldn’t muster up the energy to vote for the kids.

When we actually cared about a race, we worked hard, and gave money to the campaign. People came from all over the country to knock on doors. When there was a big race in Atlanta, people from Alabama flocked over the state line to canvass for a Democrat.

I know a county school referendum isn’t going to draw an influx of people to fight for quality schools. But where were our neighbors? I wonder if a single person in Jefferson County bothered to make a call or to help get the word out. Where were we? I know I didn’t lift a finger. Because I was preoccupied with other stuff. For that, I’m deeply ashamed.

By Carl Carter, APR
Much as I love the Democratic Party, we’ve gotten really bad at telling people why they should vote for us.
I mean really, really bad – nationally and in our own state.
It feels like we’re getting away with it for the … [Continue reading]

By Lindsay Fernandes
It’s never been mysterious to me that life changes in an instant.
I’ve known since earliest memory that my dad’s mom died when he was a young child. My own grandfather passed away when I was in kindergarten. A mere handful … [Continue reading]

For more than 40 years, Democrats have been whining about the power of the religious right. During that time, we’ve shrunk back and allowed Republicans to reduce the entire historic Christian faith to a couple of litmus tests. (As long as you’re … [Continue reading]

By Lindsay Fernandes
Last night, the state of Alabama voted a Democrat into the United States Senate.
That’s a sentence I never expected to write. And yet here I sit, a jumble of emotions and thoughts, trying to make sense of it on paper. … [Continue reading]

By Carl Carter
All my life, I have gone by the name “Christian.” No more. The term has no meaning for me.
We tried to save it by using modifiers like fundamentalist and evangelical, but those have become hopelessly muddled along the way. I saw … [Continue reading]

By Carl Carter, APR
Let’s talk about corruption. Not the kind that involves bribery and kickbacks, but the kind that makes stuff stop working.
Remember what happened when a file in your computer got corrupted? Everything came to a halt, whether … [Continue reading]

Randall Woodfin faced a hard challenge Tuesday -- how to start fulfilling his promise of major changes as Birmingham mayor while showing respect for the mayor he soundly defeated. He pulled it off perfectly, praising former Mayor William Bell for his … [Continue reading]

By Carl Carter
We should give credit where it’s due. Roy Moore has read his Bible, and his preference for teenage girls makes perfect sense for someone whose guide to the universe (and ours, if he gets his way) includes such concepts as men being … [Continue reading]

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